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C.A.R.B intake??

12K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  raymondschan 
#1 ·
hey everyone i just got a 2015 wrx and right off the bat i wanna add on a couple easy-to-install parts. one being an intake. however i live in cali and it has to be C.A.R.B approved, i know COBB makes a good one but is that the best? which should i go for??
 
#3 ·
if you cant wait for the parts to be available i would highly recommend a cobb access port and go stage 1, otherwise i would just wait. unless you want to get a couple simple mods and waste money on a custom tune for just a mod or two. actually after thinking about it you might be good with a drop in k and n air filter. i dont believe they need tunes.
 
#4 ·
@2015subi, welcome to the community

I say this every time I see a new driver. Learn your car first, Drive it slow for a few thousand miles. Learn what it likes and what it doesnt. take it through slow corners and fast ones, drive it uphill and downhill and dont even touch the cruise controll on the highway until at least 2k on the odometer. After that when you really know the car then go ahead and start correcting whats missing. In my experience the GR was lacking strength on the suspension and it desperately needed new headlights. once everything is corrected then you can play with more power.

on cars with ECUs Intakes don't make horesepower. Its the tune that makes horsepower. An intake without a tune will make the car run lean which is especially bad for a new car thats still in break in. I cant speak for the 15 but the stock intake on previous years has been more than enough to support a stage 1 tune . Cobb currently ofers an accessport for the 15 and they dont have an intake yet. that would suggest that its not needed to increase boost a bit and clean up your torque curve. I still reccommend driving it first but after that you can start witha stage 1.

As far ar CARB approval expect to wait a few years before the comapnies start chasing CARB approval. You wont need to smog until 2020 so they have time to get the sticker. For the time being I would think the D6600 CARB sticker would hold up if you get pulled over with the intake installed, that is unless the officer has a WRX and knows that the sticker is only good up to 2012.

TLDR, drive your car first, then upgrade. Intakes dont make power tunes do, the Cobb intakes come with D660 CARB sticker, it doesnt currently cover anything after 2012 but most LEOs dont know the difference.
 
#5 ·
Leave the intake alone! While your at it leave the BOV alone too! your a long long way from where an intake would do any good, if ever. When I first got my car I went after the things Subaru fell short on first. The tires needed help 1st,then the shift lever and related bushings. Soon after I got some good tires I discovered the steering rack bushings needed an upgrade and so on. Now I'm past stage 2 and I still have my stock intake with a K&N drop-in and an intake silencer delete. So do A LOT of other people.
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the input guys, I don't race the car on a daily basis, I do plan on taking it down to the track in the future tho, but mainly my goals for the car are 1) increase gas mileage 2) and as stupid as it sounds, I love to hear the blow out valve and you can't hear it with the stock intake, like I said I'm not huge on racing so I don't need crazy hp, but I love the sound, and 3) new exhaust, again, not huge on racing but who doesn't love a good purr. and I hate to sound like a newb but I am, only had my subi for 5 days ha, but thanks for all the input guys
 
#7 ·
No stress, we are here to help

We just don't want to see another nice new subi underperforming because someone treated it like a honda.

I have the Cobb SF intake on my 13 and I love the sound. You definitely get the BPV noise. I also like that I can clean the filter element myself rather than pay for a new paper filter. I got it for a steal and I figured why not : )

Its worth waiting until Cobb releases the SF for the 15. When they release the intake they will release an OTS tune for their accessport to match. Even without their intake cobbs OTS Stage 1 tune is good for a 6-7 percent boost in peak horsepower. If you want to take the car to the tracks without any heavy modding I would do a stage 1 tune first.

Please dont install anything other than a catback without a tune. It will do more harm than good.

When you have time post some photos so we know what to look out for on the road. Im north of LA so maybe Ill see you on the road : )

Again Welcome
 
#8 ·
I love the sound of the blow off valve too. Hence the intake silencer delete. And it's FREE!!!

We just don't want to see another nice new subi underperforming because someone treated it like a honda. TRUE DAT!!!
 
#10 ·
#11 ·
While I would agree with some of the advice you've received, to leave your intake alone; the AEM CAI is CARB legal as of March 23.

Take a look at ARB Air Resources Board - Aftermarket Devices list, and look for Executive Order: D-670-22

As for me, I'll stick with my Cobb Stage 1, at least until I do enough research for feedback of others who've installed this device. Hopefully by then, there will be more CARB approved devices, but I'm not holding my breath for that.
 
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